Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man 550-TT

The Deluxe Memory Man 550-TT is an analog delay pedal with tap tempo from Electro-Harmonix, released in 2012¹. It carries the Deluxe Memory Man sound into a tap-tempo format: up to 550 ms of bucket-brigade delay, the same maximum delay time as the classic Deluxe Memory Man, plus the chorus and vibrato modulation that line is known for¹. Electro-Harmonix describes it as analog with digital control, meaning the audio path stays analog while the timing and control functions are handled digitally¹.

Vintage Guitar described it when it arrived as a Memory Man with "Tap Tempo, Expression Control, and an Effects Loop" added². The pedal is discontinued: Electro-Harmonix marks it as discontinued in 2024¹.

What it does: analog delay and modulation with tap tempo

The 550-TT is built on NOS Panasonic bucket brigade ICs, the vintage delay chips that store the signal in an analog bucket-brigade chain rather than converting it to digital¹. Bucket brigade chips pass the signal along in small steps, which is what gives analog delay its character, and they are the same class of component the original Deluxe Memory Man circuit used.

The "TT" in the name is tap tempo. An onboard TAP footswitch lets you tap in the delay time in real time instead of turning a knob and guessing¹, and Pedal of the Day noted that this switch "lets you dial in the perfect tempo on the fly"³. On top of the delay itself, the pedal carries the modulation section of the Deluxe Memory Man family: Rate and Depth controls set a chorus or vibrato wobble on the delay time, the effect the original was prized for¹.

The 550-TT sits in a family of tap-tempo Memory Mans. It is the smaller sibling of the Deluxe Memory Man 1100-TT, which arrived a year earlier, in 2011, and doubles the maximum delay time to 1100 ms⁴¹. Pedal of the Day called the 550-TT a version that "retains all the power and prestige of it's big brother, the 1100-TT," with the same control layout, jacks, tap tempo and FX loop³. Delicious Audio's analog delay guide groups the two together, pointing players who want shorter delay times or fewer features at the 550-TT and non-deluxe versions⁵.

The controls

Six knobs shape the sound, and Electro-Harmonix describes each one's job on the product page¹:

The modulation section works on the delay time rather than the dry signal, so the chorus and vibrato effects appear in the repeats, the behavior players associate with the Deluxe Memory Man line¹.

Expression modes, tap switch and effects loop

Beyond the knobs, the 550-TT adds three features the classic big-box Deluxe Memory Man never had²¹.

Expression control. An EXP. PEDAL jack takes an optional expression pedal or control voltage, and an EXP. MODE button cycles through six expression modes: BLEND, RATE, DEPTH, FEEDBACK, DELAY and OFF¹. Pick one of the five parameters and sweep it with your foot while you play; OFF disconnects the expression input. Vintage Guitar described this as "real-time player control over Blend, Rate, Depth, Feedback and Delay via Expression Pedal input"².

External tap. The TAP SW jack inputs tap tempo from an external momentary switch¹. Pedal of the Day noted you can use it "to hook up an external tap and retain the same functionality" as the onboard switch³. Vein-Tap lists the 550-TT among pedals that require a normally open tap switch, so check that any external switch you pair with it is normally open⁶.

Effects loop. SEND and RETURN jacks insert another pedal or chain of pedals into the 550-TT's feedback path, so whatever you connect is applied to the repeats rather than the whole signal¹. This is the feature that lets you, for example, put an overdrive only on the echoes.

The pedal also has the standard connections: a 1/4" INPUT jack for your instrument or another pedal, and an OUTPUT jack for an amplifier or the next pedal in the chain¹.

Power

The 550-TT runs on the included 9.6VDC power adapter and draws 200 mA¹. That is a higher draw than many compact analog pedals, and the 9.6V supply is specific to Electro-Harmonix's adapter rather than a standard 9V center-negative pedalboard supply, so plan power accordingly. There is no battery option in the listed specifications. The 1100-TT uses the same 9.6VDC 200 mA arrangement⁴.

550-TT versus 1100-TT

The two tap-tempo Deluxe Memory Mans share nearly everything except delay time:

JHS Pedals' buying guide noted the 1100-TT was available from EHX for $450 new⁷. Both models are now discontinued, with the 550-TT going first in 2024 and the 1100-TT following in 2025¹⁴. Players looking for a current Electro-Harmonix analog-style delay can find the family continued in smaller formats such as the Nano Deluxe Memory Man.

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